


The Sky Says "I'm Yours"

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Kid!Parad, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29225940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Kiriya goes out to a festival with his friends and after some coercing from his friend's kid Parad, he wins a goldfish for him. Unfortunately, the goldfish has other plans.
Relationships: Graphite/Kujou Kiriya
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	The Sky Says "I'm Yours"

**Author's Note:**

> Currently this is just a standalone, but I'm going to be working on future chapters when I get some of my other ongoing series wrapped!
> 
> Title from Su Lee's "Slice of Life"
> 
> Based on a prompt from the [Monster Kink Meme](https://monsterkinkmeme.tumblr.com/post/183855707895/you-bought-a-goldfish-at-the-fair-thinking-it-was)
> 
> You bought a goldfish at the fair, thinking it was cruel to keep them in plastic bags, but by the time you get home, something odd is happening to it, and you notice that it’s starting to shift and change shape.
> 
> Either you just found yourself a rare and miniature merfolk, or there is something seriously wrong with your new goldfish…

Kiriya loved summer festivals, but he could do without all the kids running around and getting underfoot. Don't get him wrong, it's not like he hated kids or anything. His family was huge, and he was pretty good at dealing with his various nieces, nephews, and second and third cousins. He got asked to babysit a lot, but that was usually three at a time at most, or if it was a family gathering, there was a whole support group of adults to watch over them, and the kids were usually all preoccupied with each other. Festivals were a completely different matter. All he could do was watch them go wild and hope they had some guardian who would be keeping an eye on them and making sure they were safe.

And having his own little "bundle of joy" that was currently trying to squirm out of his arms made the whole situation worse.

"Parad, seriously," He grunted as a little elbow hit him in the jaw and the kid squirmed even more.

"Lemme go! It's hot!"

"Parad, maybe if we took off your jacket you'd feel cooler."

"No!" The kid squirmed even more and Kiriya prayed for Emu to come back soon. Parad loved his jacket and pink arm warmers so much he never took them off, even when it was boiling hot and humid outside. Something or other about looking like a character from one of his video games with a high collar and long coattails. His wavy hair was curling and puffing up from the humidity and sticking to his forehead with sweat from all his layers. Emu usually came prepared with a huge water thermos with a lid that doubled as a little cup to keep the kid from passing out from heatstroke, but they were running late to meet Kiriya and the others for the festival and it was forgotten in the rush. So now, he was out with the rest of their group getting water and if they were lucky, some shave ice to compensate for Parad's extra layers.

He sighed as Parad started kicking his feet, "I'm not gonna let go because you ran off last time. We're supposed to wait for Emu and the others here, remember? I can put you on my shoulders, maybe you can catch a breeze up there."

"You're too short to catch a breeze," Parad grumbled.

Jeez, kids always had to hit where it hurt the most, huh?

"Okay then, I guess I'm gonna have to keep carrying you."

Parad squirmed again, then, seeming to finally realize it was useless, grumbled and crossed his arms poutily.

"Emu will be back soon, don't worry." Kiriya said reassuringly sort of to Parad, but mostly to himself.

Thankfully, he could see Taiga's terrible dye job (he lost a bet to Nico) through the crowd and felt a weight lift from his chest. The rest of the group hurried their way towards him and Emu handed what looked like a bag of food and a cone of shave ice to Asuna so he could take Parad off Kiriya's hands.

"Sorry to leave you hanging for so long, the lines for water were ridiculous. And _some people_ wouldn't let me pay for anything." Emu huffed, giving the rest of their friends a playful scowl, his tone still light and fond.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you came back. Was worried you all got lost," Kiriya grinned, hoping his exhaustion didn't show too much.

Asuna handed Emu the shave ice back and he helped Parad eat it, while Taiga handed Kiriya some grilled eel on a stick, which he gratefully accepted and immediately tore into. Dealing with whiny kids always left him hungry and exhausted, and Emu's kid was the most tiresome.

"Wow, that's disturbing. What, did living with fish for so long turn you part shark?" Nico joked.

Kiriya left her hanging while he chewed his huge mouthful of eel until he could swallow and respond, "Ha, ha, very funny," before she could think of anything else to say, "You've been extra salty with me all night, is it because you're gonna miss free admission to the aquarium?"

Nico snorted, "If you think I need you to get into places for free, then you don't know me very well."

Behind her back, Taiga gave him a subtle wink and Kiriya returned the gesture with a laugh. Nico was one of their best customers, usually taking advantage of Kiriya comping her tickets to invite extra friends and cover for them on outings with her classmates. She was ready to boycott them when she heard Kiriya got laid off, but he encouraged her to keep going, even if he wasn't there. She begrudgingly agreed, and he thought she'd been venting her frustration at him through little quips and jabs the whole night but wasn't sure until he got Taiga's confirmation just then. She was so confident in almost everything she said it was hard to tell sometimes.

After they all stood around and ate for a while, Parad started to get fidgety again and Asuna suggested they start looking at the games. The kid perked up at the mention of games and excitedly started tugging on Emu's pant leg, begging him to take them to go play games. The group quickly got rid of their trash and Emu let Parad run out with Asuna's hand in his, dashing them a few meters until they stopped.

Kiriya couldn't hear them, but he could figure out the gist when Asuna gestured in the opposite direction and Parad seemed a little embarrassed as he started running with her that way. They all followed the two of them until they reached the games, Parad eagerly dashing over to the first one he saw.

Emu started reaching for his wallet, but Asuna quickly paid for Parad instead.

"Asuna, you don't have to—!"

She waved him off, "I had my coin purse out anyways, don't worry about it. You can get his next game."

Emu sighed frustratedly, but let it go, heading over to crouch next to Parad and watch him play.

He, in fact, didn't get the next game. Hiiro covered it, then Nico, who insisted she should because she was going to play with Parad, then Taiga. Emu was flustered over the whole thing, but they all knew he was in a rough situation. Parad was his cousin's kid, and both the parents died in a car crash, so custody went to the next living relative that was actually going to be responsible about raising the kid, which just so happened to be Emu. So, taking some worry off Emu for the night by pooling their money and covering him and Parad for everything so the two of them could have a nice time had been in their plans for a while.

It was still early in the night when they came across the goldfish scooping game, but some of them were starting to feel tired, Kiriya included. He expected to see Hiiro and Taiga head home soon, and honestly, he could use a healthy dose of throwing himself into bed and passing out right away, too.

But Parad was really insistent on getting a goldfish tonight for some reason and they couldn't cover his games if they were all home. So if Parad was being stubborn, they needed to stick it out, too.

It was weird, the kid never showed any interest in fish before. Kiriya timed him the last time Emu got the chance to take Parad for a visit. The kid was barrelling out the exit doors with Emu in tow 30 minutes after they entered, excitedly talking about the sea lions. But now that stakes and games were involved he just wouldn't stop trying to catch something. Kiriya worried a little about the fish he won and how they would survive if Parad only thought of them as a prize. Between Parad's interest in them potentially dying out quickly, and Emu's harried life as a single parent-uncle-second-cousin, they were likely to completely neglect them within a week or two.

Kiriya was trying to plan out maybe paying them some visits to take care of the fish now that he had free time while job hunting when tiny hands slapped against his knee, poking through the fraying in his jeans. He looked up to meet very tired and frustrated eyes.

"You're the fish guy, get me one." Parad demanded.

Kiriya blinked in surprise. Of everyone in the group, he thought the kid disliked him the most. He was such a stubborn and proud little kid, it was kind of unfathomable for him to ask Kiriya for help.

"Parad, is that how we ask a friend?" Emu chided softly.

"Get me a fish... Please." Parad's voice was so quiet at the end, but Kiriya would let it slide.

He ruffled the kid's hair, making him growl and pout, and Kiriya laughed as he shuffled closer to the stall.

He hadn't done this in a while, but he used to be pretty good at it. Fish were the only pets Kiriya was allowed to have, growing up, and... well, he ended up enjoying their company and taking care of them enough to work at an aquarium. And maybe Parad was really turning around on fish since he seemed to want one enough to ask for help. After handing over his money, quietly ignoring Emu's protests to get this game the stall owner handed over the poi. Kiriya twirled the tiny plastic frame in his hands as he looked down into the water, scoping out which fish might be a good catch.

As he stared, one fish caught his eye. They were mostly black, but as they turned, a patch of gold on their right fin glittered in the booth lights. Parad probably wouldn't like them since they weren't conventionally a pretty fish, but Kiriya felt himself lean in closer, charmed by their pattern and the way they were swimming. It was a bit strange for a fish to not group up with the others, but he wasn't one to pass up a perfect opportunity.

He gently dipped the poi into the water, then turned it up to catch the fish, maybe a bit too eagerly because the paper broke and the fish swam right on through. Kiriya sighed, handing it back to the stall owner with money for another try when he caught the fish staring at him.

Kiriya was faintly aware of Parad saying something and tugging on his arm, Emu trying to coax him away, and even of the new poi being put in his hand. But everything was muffled in comparison to the weird look this fish was giving him. Almost like... Why did he get the impression that they expected better from him? Like he'd somehow let them down?

Well, now he _had_ to get them, right? The overall weirdness of the situation aside, he wasn't one to just give up on a challenge.

The fish seemed to sense his resolve, and suddenly picked up their pace. Instead of the slow, lazy back and forth pattern they were swimming in earlier, they started swimming with the groups, mixing themself in and hiding. Somehow, Kiriya managed to keep his eyes on them. This fish was super weird. They would dart out and start swimming at the easily catchable pace by the front of the pool, then dart back into a group. Almost like they were teasing him.

Well, he'd make sure they regretted that cockiness later...

He was thinking this about a fish, what the hell?

Anyway, the group they were swimming with was coming towards the front of the pool, and he had a plan. As the school passed him by, the gold patch on his fish glinted at him. Just as he thought, they took the opportunity to tease him again. He dipped the poi down towards them, and just as the fish was trying to speed off, he brought it back up, blocking them from joining with the closest group and pulling them up, out of the water.

The fish didn't flop around or fight too much, and good thing, too. If they did, the paper might've broken and they could've escaped before the stall owner managed to bag them. Instead, they just stared at him with those big eyes, mouth opening and closing slowly.

Kiriya let out a shaky breath and backed away from the pool once the poi was returned and the bag with the fish was safely in Parad's hands. Despite the heat, of both the moment and the weather, he suddenly felt cold. Icy pins and needles stabbed at his fingers, his whole body felt like it was buzzing, and as the feeling settled in, the energy drained out of him.

Not seeming to notice that anything was wrong, Emu put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, sighing as he watched Parad stare at the fish through the bag.

"You know how hindsight is 20/20 and all that?" Emu sighed.

Kiriya opened his mouth to say something witty in response, but all the quips he thought of suddenly slipped from his mind. He shook his head slightly to get himself back together and ended up saying, "Yeah?"

"I just realized we don't have any way to house the fish." He said sadly.

Something about that finally jump-started Kiriya's brain and he let out a chuckle.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have a tank that your new roommate can stay in. You guys can take it if you want, honestly."

"But that means you'd have to leave early!" Emu protested, "And we can't just take your fish tank from you like that!"

Kiriya shrugged, "It's okay."

He had the tank since he was a kid and housed a bunch of fish in it as he grew up. But once he got hired at the aquarium, he let his most recent fish be his last until they passed and he got laid off. He kept intending to get another fish, but something held him back, making him walk out of the pet store empty-handed every time he intended to leave with a new little buddy. He took this as a sign to just let go, and giving it to a friend was the perfect opportunity.

Emu looked like he still wanted to fight from the worried furrow in his brows and the way he was pouting, and Kiriya put a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. I'm getting a little tired anyway. All us old men can't stay up all night," He yelled the last part over his shoulder towards Hiiro and Taiga, and got a middle finger in return.

"I'm younger than you, Kujo," Hiiro grumbled.

And Kiriya laughed, "Old man in spirit, though!"

He shared a grin with Emu at Hiiro's offended scoff, then tried to look as earnest as possible "Seriously, though, it's okay, as long as you don't need extra help handling the kid."

Emu heaved a big sigh and let up, "Yeah, he seems like he's gonna tire out soon. We should be fine, since Nico and Asuna are sticking around for a while longer."

As they were talking, Parad wrapped the rubber band holding the bag around his wrist and started to swing it around. Emu quickly grabbed his wrist, and gently took the bag away. He handed the bag to Kiriya, who was doing his best not to keel over from the near heart attack he got while watching that, then knelt back down to hold Parad by the shoulders and talk to him.

"Hey there, Parad, fish are very delicate, so you can't treat them like those water balloon toys, okay?" Emu said, and the kid just pouted, "I'm gonna give them to uncle Kiriya to hold onto for a while. The fish needs to get home and rest, so he's gonna take care of them until he can bring them to our place."

Parad leaned over a bit to glare at Kiriya over Emu's shoulder, but sighed dramatically and nodded. Emu took his hand and walked them both over to Kiriya.

"We'll try to swing by next weekend to pick it up, if that's okay?"

Kiriya nodded, and after a few goodbyes, headed off with Hiiro and Taiga for the night.

* * *

Kiriya ended up parting ways with Hiiro and Taiga quickly since they all lived in different directions. Taiga wouldn't meet their eyes when he demanded both of them text him when they got home and quietly stormed off towards his stop. Hiiro chuckled quietly, sharing a knowing look with Kiriya. It was cute but a little frustrating how embarrassed Taiga was about showing he cared. Then, Kiriya walked Hiiro towards his stop. Usually, he'd go all the way and wait with him until he was safely aboard the train, sitting with him and doing sudoku or other little puzzle books Hiiro's dad gifted him. But tonight, Kiriya had a little passenger himself and Hiiro understood, waving him goodbye as he went down the steps to the platform.

The walk over was sort of tense, but it wasn't exactly rush hour, so the station and train weren’t as crowded as they normally were. Once he boarded, he realized he still had to stand, though. So Kiriya carefully held the fish close to his chest in one hand, and the other holding the support railing near the doors.

The fish suddenly swam around in the bag, catching Kiriya's attention. He ended up doing a double-take because it looked like their scales were getting more vibrant. Which was weird, because they were mostly black, so them getting more vibrant looked like staring into a void save for the little flecks grey where the scales were fading and that big patch on their side. As he stared more, it was like looking into a miniature galaxy with its own little sun. Rubbing at one eye as best he could with his shoulder, he wondered if his vision was going blurry. Helping Emu babysit always left him worn out, but it hadn't been _that_ long. He couldn't be so tired that he was seeing things. He subtly tried to take another look, and the goldfish seemed fine, their scales didn't feel like they were sucking him in this time, so he let it go, but kept sneaking glances the rest of the train ride home.

He finally disembarked and walked down the street towards his apartment fighting the urge to swing his arms around or stick his hands in his pockets like he usually did, very aware of the tiny life he was holding in a little plastic bag. Kiriya breathed a sigh of relief when he got through the entrance to his apartment. On the thankfully empty elevator ride up to his unit, he took the opportunity to hold the bag up to his face and check on the fish. He genuinely started wondering if he was losing it from lack of sleep, because the fish looked like they got longer, and odd little nubs were growing out from the sides a few centimeters above their gills.

He lowered the bag just as the elevator got to his floor and he carefully rushed to his apartment, taking the bag in both hands so he wouldn't jostle it on the brisk walk over. Kiriya didn't even try to look at the fish again until he got inside, hastily kicking off his shoes and locking the door to hold the fish with both hands and run them to the kitchen table so he could set the bag down and get a good look at what was happening.

Nervously, he knelt down to get on eye level with the fish... and they stared back. Kiriya never thought goldfish could be intimidating, but now that he had one with scales so shiny they seemed to glow, a slightly elongated body and two weird little horn-like growths on their sides, staring him down with their cold eyes... Of course, he was freaked out.

He couldn't give this back to Emu. Not until he figured out what was going on, at least. He'd just have to get them into the tank, maybe get them some food, and figure out something to tell Emu before he came by to pick them up.

"Okay..." He said nervously, "Wait here and I'll get you someplace to stay for the night, okay?"

The fish just stared back, unmoving and menacing, and Kiriya swore he saw the little growths twitch.

He didn't think he'd ever moved so quickly in his life as he ran to prep the tank in his bedroom. As he went through the motions, they became more and more automatic. Wipe down the glass, fake plants, gravel, little knick-knacks just for display, assemble the filter, attach it and the lights, snap on the lid. This was going to be a long-term home since he offered the tank too, so he took extra time to make it pretty. Nothing to do with the fish on his kitchen counter he wasn't looking forward to seeing again, nothing at all.

Normally, he could use the tank set up as a ritual to get himself to stop thinking about things for a while, losing himself in the work, but in this situation, it was automatic enough that he could let his mind work itself into a frenzy over this fish. The tank's home used to be on his desk, but he picked up the whole thing to bring it to the kitchen and fill it there. No way he was letting this fish anywhere near him while he slept.

Kiriya tried to convince himself he was just imagining it, but he swore the fish was watching his every move once he came back into view. He tried to not look directly at them, busying himself at the sink so he could fill the tank with water.

That was his first mistake.

From behind him, there was a sort of popping noise, and after a few beats, the telltale sound of water spilling from the edge of his table to the tile floor. He whirled around, finding the plastic bag burst open from the inside, and the fish using their— _arms?_

The little growths from before had turned into little humanoid arms and the elongated part above the gills had grown into a mostly human upper body in the time he'd been away. They had a little mop of hair that looked black and wavy, but it was hard to tell the true color from how it was soaked. And when they flopped over, the face was a horrifying mix of goldfish and humanoid with bulgy eyes and a gaping mouth, opening and closing like it was gasping for air, but a fleshy, squishy looking human face and, ew, no, they had teeth. Not human teeth, but still, seeing teeth in a mouth not made for them was horrifying.

The fish's shiny black scales still dotted most of the humanoid torso and the fish's _elbows._ If there was any heaven out there, he asked for it to help him now because he had to think about a goldfish having goddamn elbows. He scooped up the remains of the bag quickly and gently placed it into the mostly filled tank, removing the plastic when the terrifying fish swam out of it.

He picked up the tank and moved it next to the stove so he could plug it in, get the filter running and the lights on so he could confirm what he was seeing. The weird little fish swam around, getting used to the space, and startled when the lights flicked on, darting behind one of the clumps of plastic plants.

Kiriya could see the huge eyes peeking back out at him from behind the leaves, calculating, assessing him.

After a while of staring each other down, the fish seemed to think it was safe enough to come out, and swam to the top of the tank, breaking through the surface and hoisting their little body up to hang on to the rim while glaring Kiriya down.

Now that he could see them better, the scales on the right arm were the same gold color as the little flecks on the rest of their body... tail... Kiriya would have to ask for the full rundown later. And now that they were up in the air, their hair had slight curls at the ends, their skin was a light tan, and he could make out some gold accents on the undersides of their eyes, curving upwards at the corners like winged eyeliner.

"So, you've captured me, human. What do you want?"

Kiriya gripped onto the railing of the oven, they talked, too. Because of course, they did. This night had to take weird and crank it way past eleven. They had to be at weird level twenty by now. He blinked rapidly, trying to process the whole situation and the goldfish grumbled at him.

"Well, hurry it up, I don't have all night. I need to get out there and figure out my purpose."

Kiriya caught himself against the oven as he stumbled back again. What was this fish even saying?

"I'm sorry, I just want you to go back to being a normal fish so I can give you to my friend's kid like I promised," He found himself responding.

The fish scoffed, "To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer not to go. I've waited too long for this chance to be sent back now. I’m sure you can come up with an adequate excuse for your friend before next week."

”Wait, you heard all that?”

”Of course,” The fish looked very unamused, “I was right there and your voices carry. Never realized how loud humans were.”

Kiriya pinched the bridge of his nose and stood back up to his full height, beginning to pace, "Okay, sure fine, and what's up with you? Who talks like that?"

"I do," The fish scowled at him, "And I have to figure out what I need to learn so I can ascend."

"Ascend?"

They nodded resolutely at him. "To become a dragon."

Kiriya had enough. He let go of the oven to throw his hands up in the air, walking over to the table, completely done. He pulled out a chair opposite from the side where the fish spilled water all over and sat down heavily. The fish still watched him, and he stared at them in disbelief for a while. They really didn't like to back down if they thought they were being given a challenge, huh? Every time they locked eyes, the fish tried to keep his attention, turn it into a staring contest or something. He thought about the situation for a while longer until he asked, "Seriously, what the hell are you?"

They slapped a tiny hand against the rim of the tank, "Isn't it obvious? I'm a koi!"

Kiriya couldn't help it, he let out a little chuckle and the goldfish grumbled, "Shut up."

"Last time I checked, koi and goldfish are only in the same family, I don't think you're going to become a dragon."

The fish huffed and let go of the rim, returning to the water and hiding behind a big plastic rock. Kiriya leaned over to see them sitting with their arms crossed, angrily sulking. He had to laugh again. This night had been so much. Apparently, his laughter pissed them off because the fish curled up tighter and bristled again. Well, they probably wouldn't be talking much more tonight. Hopefully, all of this will have been some fever dream when he woke up in the morning.

Kiriya went around, cleaning up the water and the rest of the mess from the bag, then stepped near the tank again.

"Hey, I'm gonna close this up, but if you're real and here tomorrow, let me know what you can eat so I don't accidentally make you sick. We can talk about other stuff you need to be comfortable while you're here, too. I'm going to bed."

The goldfish just swam to the opposite corner of the tank, still pouting, and Kiriya closed the lid with a sigh. He turned off the lights in the tank and the kitchen, then headed back to his room, exhausted.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks much for reading!
> 
> I have a [writing Tumblr ](https://droppedalltheseoreos.tumblr.com/) if you'd like to drop by and say hi or something!


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